Page 10 - Delaware Medical Journal - February 2017
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PRESIDENT’S PAGE
This pathway gives our aspiring students who wish to pursue a career in medicine the same opportunities that are found in every other state.
leaving traditional settings to pursue concierge practices with the hopes
of having more satisfying patient interactions, less stress, and a better lifestyle. Clearly, a further shortage of physicians can be anticipated.
Our governor and legislators should
ask themselves who will care for the who have obtained health insurance through the ACA and expanded Medicaid program and now require primary care physicians. We need to maintain and grow our physician workforce to continue to provide quality care to the patients of our state. It is, therefore, critical for Delaware to maintain a path for our students to gain admission to medical school. Without DIMER, Delaware would be the only state in the nation without a medical school or an agreement for its students to pursue a career in medicine.
class at SKMC, improving the likelihood of admission at SKMC from 2.8 percent the likelihood of a Delaware student’s admission at PCOM from 4.4 percent to 35.6 percent. The DIMER program costs
Delaware $1.8 million per year. To put this into perspective, the price tag for building the new Dell Medical School at the University of Texas is approximately $436 million (Austin American- class consists of only 50 students. There is no doubt that DIMER is a huge bargain for the State of Delaware!
The DIMER program has been very successful. Nearly 170 SKMC & PCOM DIMER graduates practice medicine in Delaware with 34 working in federally designated health professional shortage areas in Kent and Sussex counties.
Given this information, the DIMER program offers Delaware an EXTREMELY low cost alternative to having its own medical school. Further decreasing the cost of this program
is the revenue brought into the State
of Delaware by physicians. A survey conducted by IMS Health on behalf of the American Medical Association looking physicians in 2012 showed that there are over 10,000 jobs supported by Delaware physicians. The total local and state
tax revenue was just over $131 million! Defunding the DIMER program has the
Therefore, I implore you to speak up. Tell our legislators that they need to continue to fund the DIMER program for the health of our citizens. Let’s not let Delaware become the only state in the nation that does not have a medical school or an agreement for its citizens to pursue an education in medicine!
Here is who you can contact:
Senator Harris McDowell
Joint Finance Committee
Legislative Phone: 302-744-4147 Email: Harris.McDowell@state.de.us
Representative Melanie George Smith
Joint Finance Committee, Chair Legislative Phone: 302-744-4126 Email: Melanie.G.Smith@state.de.us
Prayus Tailor, M.D.
President, Medical Society of Delaware
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Del Med J | February 2017 | Vol. 89 | No. 2
